Water

In many countries around the world the supply of electricity and clean water is often sporadic and of poor quality. Consulting and design company NOS is looking to address this problem with PhotoFlow, a two-in-one concept design that combines solar power generation with water collection and storage. Read More

Some soothing tunes pumping out through a speaker system is just the ticket after a hard day at the office, but there are times when your eyes need a gentle distraction too. Watching water bopping to the beat inside a sealed plastic enclosure as a multi-colored light show mesmerizes and relaxes fits that bill very nicely. There are a number of fountain audio throwers already available, but few are as arresting as the gorgeous 2.1 ch Water Dancing Speaker System from ATake that we spotted at IFA today. Read More

Unless you're a submarine pilot, it isn't every day you get to pilot a submarine, and so I'm in Malta to test drive U-Boat Worx' C-Explorer 2. The 2 isn't a version number, but denotes that this is a two-seater submarine. Coincidentally, it also denotes roughly the number of millions of euros you'd need to buy one. It's a millionaires' plaything designed for exploring under the sea to depths between 100 m (328 ft) and 1,000 m (3,280 ft), depending on the spec. My mission: to explore a wreck at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea. Equipped with U-Boat Worx' GoPro video cameras in and outside the sub, my trusty point and shoot camera and a dictaphone smartphone app, I'm as ready as I'll ever be for my appointment at the seabed. Read More

Data from NASA's Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) aboard the Indian Chandrayaan-1 probe has shown that there is water locked in mineral grains on the surface on our satellite's surface. Scientists had previously thought that small amounts of moisture were being generated by solar wind and other factors, but the latest findings are strong evidence that the Moon contains large quantities of its own "magmatic water" from deep within its core. Read More

When an oil spill occurs at sea, there are already a number of possible options for gathering the oil that floats in a layer on the water’s surface. Some of the oil also forms into tiny suspended droplets, however, which have proven much more difficult to gather. Now, Chinese scientists have developed what could be a solution – and it owes a debt to the humble cactus needle. Read More

Researchers at the University of Toronto say they can improve the energy of efficiency buildings by fitting window panes with tiny channels of water. The scientists says that these channels, inspired by vascular systems in nature such as the network of blood vessels in the human body, can provide 7º to 9º C of cooling in the summer, and reduce heat loss during winter. Read More

A new technique developed by a University of Colorado Boulder team converts sunshine and water directly into usable fuel. The technique involves concentrating sunlight in a solar tower to achieve temperatures high enough to drive chemical reactions that split water into its constituent oxygen and hydrogen molecules. In this way, the team says it should be able to cheaply produce massive amounts of hydrogen fuel. Read More

If you keep getting your gadgets wet because you can’t part with them while taking a bath, maybe it’s time for you to reevaluate your options. As it turns out, it only takes a Kinect camera, a projector, some waterproofed speakers, half a year of coding and an enormous amount of ingenuity to turn a regular bath into an interactive entertainment hub. And that’s exactly what a group of researchers from Koike Laboratory at Tokyo’s University of Electro-Communications have done as part of their quest to explore the field of natural user interface design. Their AquaTop Display takes immersive entertainment to a whole new level, unattainable with regular, impenetrable touch displays. Read More

As someone who lives in the UK and can therefore count the number of hot days a year on one hand, the idea of having a permanent outdoor shower is rather novel. However, in countries where scorching summers are par for the course they're a common sight, but require plumbing and a dedicated space. The Viteo Shower avoids both these problems by literally turning the outdoor shower design on its head. Read More

It's a given that recycling waste products is a good thing. It's certainly better than sending our trash to landfill where it will sit rotting (or not, in the case of non-biodegradable waste) for decades to come. However, even better than recycling is to not create the waste in the first place. Bottled water is now big business, and more popular than ever before, but bottled water guzzles energy and creates waste that really doesn't need to be created. WaterBean offers one possible solution to the problem. Read More